As promised, let’s pay our respects to the kickers and
defense/special teams units that help us decide our fantasy fates
each and every season…once again, these are 15-game projections.

Let’s revisit the color-coding system before we start:

Red – A very difficult matchup.
For lower-level players, a red matchup means they should not be
used in fantasy that week. For a second- or third-tier player,
drop your expectations for them at least one grade that week (i.e.
from WR2 to WR3). For elite players, expect them to perform one
level lower than their usual status (i.e. RB1 performs like a
RB2).

Yellow – Keep expectations
fairly low in this matchup. For lower-level players, a yellow
matchup is a borderline start at best. For a second- or third-tier
player, they can probably overcome the matchup if things fall
right. For the elite players, expect slightly better than average
production.

White – Basically, this matchup
is one that could go either way. In some cases, I just don’t
feel like I have a good feel yet for this defense. Generally speaking,
these matchups are winnable matchups for all levels of players.

Green – It doesn’t
get much better than this. For non-elite players, the stage is
basically set for said player to exploit the matchup. For the
elite player, this matchup should produce special numbers..

***In addition to discussing value above, there is one other note
regarding the numbers in the “value” column: numbers
that are bolded reflect positive values while the italicized numbers
are essentially negative. (For the more statistically-inclined,
the former values are on the right side of the bell curve while
the latter values are on the left side.)

Bonus determined by the
following benchmarks:
10 points for shutout or held to 2 points
7 points if held from 3-6 points
4 points if held from 7-12 points
2 points if held from 13-16 points
1 points if held from 17-20 points
0 points if held from 21-28 points
-1 point if give up 29-34 points
-3 points if give up 35+ points

Defense/Special
Teams

Rk

Team

Value

FPts/G

FPts

PA

Sks

INT

Fum

TD

Bonus

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

1

Texans

2.17

11.2

168.0

243

47

20

10

30

31

2

Seahawks

1.37

10.1

151.0

252

38

17

11

30

27

3

49ers

1.32

10.0

150.0

253

43

17

11

24

27

4

Bears

1.23

9.9

148.0

307

45

16

16

30

9

5

Browns

0.85

9.3

140.0

351

41

16

13

36

5

6

Bengals

0.85

9.3

140.0

339

50

12

15

30

6

7

Broncos

0.38

8.7

130.0

284

42

15

8

24

18

8

Cowboys

0.33

8.6

129.0

355

37

17

14

24

6

9

Patriots

0.24

8.5

127.0

303

35

15

13

24

12

10

Ravens

0.05

8.2

123.0

308

41

13

13

18

12

11

Cardinals

0.00

8.1

122.0

359

35

17

11

30

1

12

Redskins

0.00

8.1

122.0

345

40

15

9

30

4

13

Vikings

0.09

8.0

120.0

326

42

14

13

12

12

14

Packers

0.19

7.9

118.0

364

39

18

9

24

1

15

Rams

0.19

7.9

118.0

352

47

16

8

18

5

16

Chiefs

0.28

7.7

116.0

313

34

16

8

24

10

17

Dolphins

0.28

7.7

116.0

322

40

16

8

18

10

18

Bucs

0.33

7.7

115.0

269

30

17

7

18

19

19

Lions

0.42

7.5

113.0

360

39

14

9

24

4

20

Bills

0.71

7.1

107.0

367

36

15

10

18

3

21

Falcons

0.85

6.9

104.0

385

28

17

10

24

-2

22

Giants

0.90

6.9

103.0

366

35

14

13

12

2

23

Steelers

1.13

6.5

98.0

291

36

10

9

12

12

24

Saints

1.18

6.5

97.0

419

32

18

9

18

-7

25

Panthers

1.70

5.7

86.0

381

37

8

10

18

-5

26

Jets

1.74

5.7

85.0

397

30

10

12

12

-1

27

Colts

1.79

5.6

84.0

374

27

11

5

24

1

28

Chargers

2.17

5.1

76.0

420

28

12

10

12

-8

29

Titans

2.59

4.5

67.0

419

29

8

6

18

-8

30

Jaguars

2.88

4.1

61.0

450

23

9

9

12

-10

31

Eagles

2.92

4.0

60.0

439

26

11

7

12

-14

32

Raiders

2.97

3.9

59.0

471

27

9

7

18

-18

Instead of waiting until the end of the preseason to search for
the next Victor Cruz (like
I did here last season), I’m going to provide a list
of under-the-radar players who impressed me in the previous week
of preseason action). Since I don’t make it a habit to watch
all 16 exhibition games in the final week of the preseason, I
will start with Week 1’s “standouts” this week
and continue on over the next two weeks. The main difference between
what I did last year and what I will do this year, however, is
simply identify players who I believe made their case to move
up the depth chart. And this isn’t so much about who performed
well in the box score, but more about skill-position players who
did their job well. If nothing else, don’t hesitate to queue
these players on your dynasty watch list (in no particular order):

Doug Orth has written for FF Today
since 2006 and appeared in USA Today’s Fantasy Football Preview
magazine in 2010 and 2011. He hosted USA Today’s hour-long,
pre-kickoff fantasy football internet chat every Sunday this past
season. Doug regularly appears as a fantasy football analyst on
Sirius XM’s “Fantasy Drive” and for 106.7 The
Fan (WJFK – Washington, D.C). He is also a member of the Fantasy
Sports Writers Association.